Pharmacotherapy in AIDS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to provide information about the present day pharmacotherapy of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which should be useful to all those concerned with its management. However, it is not intended to be used as a text book of pharmacology; it only gives a brief description of some of the thousand-and-one drugs and experimental agents used in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. The major drugs alone, such as zidovudine, pentamidine and ganciclovir would require a whole dissertation if they were to be tackled in toto. Although a detailed discussion of AIDS vaccines is outside the scope of this project (vaccines are not regarded as drugs), consideration of their mechanisms of action (at experimental level) and their importance in the near future constitutes an informative review of the management of AIDS. Treatments of AIDS-associated opportunistic infections and malignancies are still evolving and as the AIDS epidemic has only been recognised since 1981, there is no really long-term follow-up data available. As a consequence, the clinician has great difficulty in keeping up with all the vast information published in medical journals. The pharmacist as a drug expert, therefore has a tremendous impact in disseminating to other health care providers timely information about AIDS therapies. Clinical pharmacy is a new area in pharmacy which is gaining importance in the practice of the profession. A case study to highlight the way in which the HIV disease progresses and is treated has been presented; the role of the clinical pharmacist is given particular importance. Emphasis is also laid on the costings of medications which is another important aspect of clinical pharmacy. This project presents current information that has been drawn from recent medical literature, much of which has come from the U.S.A. and U.K., and to a lesser extent, from the limited local resources. However, since any statement concerning treatment is likely to become outdated, pharmacists, physicians and other health care professionals should always refer to the latest product data sheets.